Introduction

Hunan University of Science and Technology (HNUST) traces its origins to the Xiangbei Construction College established in 1949. In 2003, HNUST was formed through the merger of Xiangtan Institute of Technology and Xiangtan Normal University. HNUST is jointly supported by the People’s Government of Hunan Province and the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, as well as by the provincial government and the former State Administration of Work Safety. It is one of the 100 universities in central and western China selected for the National Basic Capacity Building Project during the “13th Five-Year Plan” period and is a Double First-Class university in Hunan Province.

HNUST covers an area of 3003.88 mu (approximately 200 hectares), with a construction area of 1.1843 million square meters. It is equipped with teaching and research instruments and facilities valued at 933.2 million yuan. The university library houses a collection of over 3 million printed volumes, subscribes to 79 literature databases, and offers access to approximately 930,000 e-books, 1.2 million e-journals, and more than 11.22 million electronic dissertations.

HNUST comprises 21 schools and colleges, including the School of Resource & Environment and Safety Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, School of Information and Electrical Engineering, School of Computer Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Mathematics and Computational Science, School of Physics and Electronics, School of Life Science, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, School of Humanities, School of Foreign Studies, School of Marxism, School of Education, School of Business, Qi Baishi School of Art, School of Physical Education, School of Law and Public Administration, School of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Earth Science and Spatial Information Engineering, and Li Jinhui School of Music. It also includes specialized units like Xiaoxiang College (an independent college), Sanya Research Institute, College of Excellence Engineers, School of Continuing Education, College of International Education, College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Zhaotan College, and School of Education.

HNUST offers academic programs across 11 disciplinary categories, including philosophy, economics, law, education, literature, history, science, engineering, management, art, and interdisciplinary studies. Six of these disciplines—Engineering, Chemistry, Computer Science, Materials Science, Earth Science, and Environment/Ecology—have entered the top 1% in the ESI global rankings. HNUST has 7 postdoctoral research stations in first-level disciplines, 9 first-level doctoral degree programs, 1 professional doctoral degree category, 30 first-level master’s degree programs, and 20 professional master’s degree categories. It is authorized to recommend outstanding fresh graduates for direct admission to master’s programs without examination and participates in the “Masters of Education Program.”

HNUST is home to one discipline recognized as part of the “World-Class Discipline Development Program” in Hunan Province, 5 key disciplines designated under Hunan Province’s “14th Five-Year Plan,” 1 provincial-level cluster of advantageous and distinctive disciplines, and 3 national defense-oriented disciplines. HNUST offers 91 undergraduate programs, among which 24 are recognized as national first-class undergraduate programs, 8 as national characteristic programs, 1 as national comprehensive reform pilot program, 28 as provincial-level first-class programs, and 17 as provincial-level characteristic programs.

HNUST currently employs over 2,700 staff members, including 1,850 full-time teachers. Among the faculty, more than 940 hold senior professional titles, and 71% hold doctoral degrees. HNUST boasts 25 recipients of national high-level talent programs or equivalent honors, and over 160 recipients of provincial high-level talent programs or equivalent distinctions. More than 10 faculty members at HNUST have been honored with titles such as the Inaugural National Outstanding Engineer, Role Model of the Times, National Teaching Master, National “Most Beautiful Teacher,” National Model Teacher, and National Outstanding Teacher. In addition, HNUST has two nationally recognized Huang Danian-style Teaching Teams.

HNUST is recognized as an “Excellent” university in the Ministry of Education’s Undergraduate Teaching Evaluation. It is among the institutions selected for the Ministry of Education’s “Excellent Engineer Education and Training Program,” and was included in China’s first group of universities with exemplary innovation and entrepreneurship practices. HNUST is also one of the first batch of national-level institutions designated for the construction of innovation and entrepreneurship education practice bases, and has been recognized as a university with outstanding experience in graduate employment. It serves as a national training base for employability of national college graduates under the ‘Hongzhi Zhuhang Plan’, the first university in Hunan Province certified as a “China Youth Entrepreneurship Community”. HNUST’s first round of undergraduate admissions covers the whole country. HNUST currently has 40,588 full-time undergraduate students and 7,206 post-graduate students, along with 3,260 students enrolled at Xiaoxiang College. HNUST boasts 1 national-level teaching team and 16 provincial teaching teams, 2 national-level demonstration centers for laboratory teaching, 1 national-level virtual simulation laboratory teaching center, 1 off-campus practice base sponsored by the Ministry of Education’s “Excellence Program,” 93 provincial-level platforms for practical teaching. The university leads 1 national-level research and practice project in emerging engineering disciplines; and 2 national-level research and practice projects in emerging liberal arts disciplines. HNUST offers 19 first-class courses at the national level, 112 first-class courses at the provincial level, 74 excellent courses, key courses and high-quality courses at the provincial level. Since the launch of the China’s 12th Five-Year Plan, HNUST has won 90 teaching achievement awards, including 2 at the national level and 88 at the provincial or ministerial level.

HNUST has established 47 innovation platforms for natural science at both national and provincial level and 20 for social sciences at the provincial level. The university has undertaken 1061 national research projects funded by major programs such as the 863 Program, National Natural Science Foundation, the National Social Science Foundation of China, and others. The university has received 225 achievement awards in scientific research at both provincial and national level, and has obtained 4,399 national patents and software copyrights. Additionally, it has successfully promoted 271 new technologies. The Journal of Hunan University of Science and Technology (Social Science Edition) is recognized as a CSSCI source journal, a national Chinese core journal, a core journal of Chinese humanities and social sciences, an RCCSE Chinese core academic journal, and an authoritative social science journal among national universities. The Journal of Hunan University of Science and Technology (Natural Science Edition) is recognized as a national Chinese core journal, an excellent Chinese sci-tech journal, an excellent sci-tech journal of the Ministry of Education, and an excellent sci-tech journal of Chinese universities. It has been included in the T2-level of the classified catalog of high-quality sci-tech journals in China’ s geoscience and coal fields. Professor Wan Buyan, a leading researcher at HNUST, and his team are dedicated to overcoming critical technological challenges. They have continuously developed the “Hainiu” series of deep-sea drilling rig systems, and repeatedly set new records for the drilling depth of seabed drilling rigs. This has driven a significant leap in China’s marine resource exploration and exploitation equipment––from scratch to presence, and from lagging behind to taking the lead—— making pioneering contributions to the research and development of China’s marine mineral exploration technology and equipment.

HNUST has increasingly opened its doors to the world. To date, the university has established cooperative relationships with nearly 100 universities across more than 30 countries and regions, including the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Austria, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, and South Korea, and has also enrolled international students from more than 30 countries and welcomed exchange students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan of China.

Grounded in the New Era, HNUST is forging ahead on a new journey. Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the university remains firmly committed to its motto “Realism, innovation, honesty and ambition”. HNUST is vigorously advancing its “353 Strategy” and the “1545” Action Plan for School Operation and Governance, further advances the construction of “Double First-Class” initiatives, and accelerates the development into a high-level comprehensive university with distinctive features, first-class standards in China and international influence. In doing so, the university is making meaningful contributions to the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. (Updated on October 10, 2025)

(Translated by TAN Jingni and LI Mengri)